ROBBIE SAVAGE has told the Ewood Park crowd to lay off his Blackburn skipper Lucas Neill.

The 28-year-old, who was close to a switch to Liverpool in August and is out of contract at the end of the season, has made it clear he wants to leave Rovers in January.

His stance, coupled with Rovers' miserable recent fortunes, led to him being barracked during the 3-1 win over Newcastle at the weekend and question marks being raised over his captaincy.

Neill was again booed when his name was read out before the 1-0 Uefa Cup win over Nancy.

And when he hit an injury-time winner, he ran the length of the pitch with his ear cupped to Ewood's Blackburn End.

Despite the uneasy situation, Savage has backed his captain and he said, "Lucas has been a great servant to this club. The modern-day footballer has every right to keep his options open.

"I think the club bought him for £1m, he's been a great servant and while he's still a Blackburn player, if that's for another month or six months, the fans should get behind him.

"It's not right booing your own players, like when his name was read out at the beginning, and he answered them in the best way possible with the goal.

"Lucas isn't the first player to let his contract run down and he won't be the last and we hope he stays, but he's keeping his options open and that's up to him.

"Lucas is his own person. The lads want him to stay because he's a great character, a leader and whatever he decides to do it's his choice."

Neill's strike meant Rovers go into the knockout phase as group winners and they will be drawn against a third-placed side in today's draw.

While he has enjoyed the club's European exploits, 32-year-old Savage maintains the priority is the Barclays Premiership, where six defeats in eight matches have left Rovers a place and two points above the drop zone.

Savage added,

"It was important to win the group. It's not been a distraction, it's been great, but Premiership status is more important."